Psychosis Guide to Mastering Lord Recluse's SF
By
Centinull,
Posted on: 2008-04-21 10:25 in Player Guides
Looks fantastic, Gaz! Just one nitpick:
[ QUOTE ]
Author's Note: I'd like thank all the members of Psychosis who contributed methods and ideas to this strategy and those who helped with time, sweat, and tears to develop and refine it during the weeks it took us to finally complete the master run successfully.
[/ QUOTE ]
Wait, wait. There was crying involved in this?
Global: @Swift
[ QUOTE ]
Looks fantastic, Gaz! Just one nitpick:
[ QUOTE ]
Author's Note: I'd like thank all the members of Psychosis who contributed methods and ideas to this strategy and those who helped with time, sweat, and tears to develop and refine it during the weeks it took us to finally complete the master run successfully.
[/ QUOTE ]
Wait, wait. There was crying involved in this?
[/ QUOTE ]
You're all too proud to let anyone see it, but I'm sure there were tears of both joy and frustration at some point.
I cried during a few of the attempts but then again... I was usually the one responsible for the first death.
Leader of The Twilight Crusaders
Blazebolt - Elec/Fire - 50
GoldStreak - MA/Invul - 50
Psychosis
Avaritia - SS/Invul - 50
Pyrestrike - Fire/Kin - 50
Global - @Blazebolt
[ QUOTE ]
I cried during a few of the attempts but then again... I was usually the one responsible for the first death.
[/ QUOTE ]
True 
.... and don't come with that Synapse thing he AS me... 
[ QUOTE ]
When using this method, it is possible to single pull each of the Freedom Phalanx. However, it is also possible to get them in groups. Pulling Numina will sometimes bring Synapse, Synapse and Positron, or Synapse, Positron, and Citadel. Sister Psyche, Back Alley Brawler, and Manticore are similarly linked and sniping one may bring some or all of them. However, it is better to fight three or four Heroes at a time than all eight at once. If you do pull more than one Hero, it is helpful to have more than one Brute on the team so one of them can distract the other Heroes while the team focusses on defeating one Hero at a time.
[/ QUOTE ]
I have had the same random results on my pulls.
Do you think that the team's line-of-sight before they arrive at the pull location has anything to do with the random grouping of heroes? In other words, if any team member gets too close to the Hero platform while in route to the pull location, aggro of multiple Heroes can happen.
I say this because of my experience soloing the 5th mission. When I made my pulls with my Snipe, every pull was successful in that it only brought 1 or 2 Heroes. I logged, relogged and had perfect pulls every time. But once the team was introduced to the scenerio, pulls became unpredictable. In one SF, I could only pull the entire 8 Heroes. This was done 3 consecutive times after the team relogged.
The next time I use the Pull Method on the last mission, I plan on taking the following steps at the very beginning of the mission. 1) Entire team stays next to mission door while puller goes to Pull location. 2) Puller TPs entire team to Pull location. 3) Team maintains line-of-sight discipline while summoning pets and buffing. Etc, etc.
On a side note, another location that can be used for pulling to is on top of the Atlas globe. This location maintains very good line-of-sight protection and works well with seeing who has been pulled.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
When using this method, it is possible to single pull each of the Freedom Phalanx. However, it is also possible to get them in groups. Pulling Numina will sometimes bring Synapse, Synapse and Positron, or Synapse, Positron, and Citadel. Sister Psyche, Back Alley Brawler, and Manticore are similarly linked and sniping one may bring some or all of them. However, it is better to fight three or four Heroes at a time than all eight at once. If you do pull more than one Hero, it is helpful to have more than one Brute on the team so one of them can distract the other Heroes while the team focusses on defeating one Hero at a time.
[/ QUOTE ]
I have had the same random results on my pulls.
Do you think that the team's line-of-sight before they arrive at the pull location has anything to do with the random grouping of heroes? In other words, if any team member gets too close to the Hero platform while in route to the pull location, aggro of multiple Heroes can happen.
[/ QUOTE ]
I've wondered this myself and have watched the path people take to get back to the staging location. Everyone is pretty consistent about the path they take and if there is something there that's causing a change in how the FP aggros, it is very subtle.
But there is also a problem with that hypothesis, possibly. The person who is doing the pulling is always in line of sight of the FP while they are pulling, except that they are behind them, which may make a difference.
Maybe I'll start making demorecords of the last mission so I can see what's going on with the FP at the time they are being pulled. That may shed some light on things.
Great Guide Gaz !!
Centinull
Nice guide Gaz.. Very well written..
[ QUOTE ]
On a side note, another location that can be used for pulling to is on top of the Atlas globe. This location maintains very good line-of-sight protection and works well with seeing who has been pulled.
[/ QUOTE ]
I like to update this part of my post.
When I was by myself in the 5th mission, pulling to the top of the Atlas Globe worked really nice. But, last night when I was on a team, this pull location did not work at all. During this particluar SF, I did TP everyone to the Pull location from the mission door.
I think the fact that the top of the Globe is an elevated plane had something to do with it. I know I've read somewhere that the puller should never jump when pulling a Hero. I am lead to believe that breaking this map "Elevation Plane" will aggro all 8 Heroes. This would apply to the team members also.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
On a side note, another location that can be used for pulling to is on top of the Atlas globe. This location maintains very good line-of-sight protection and works well with seeing who has been pulled.
[/ QUOTE ]
I like to update this part of my post.
When I was by myself in the 5th mission, pulling to the top of the Atlas Globe worked really nice. But, last night when I was on a team, this pull location did not work at all. During this particluar SF, I did TP everyone to the Pull location from the mission door.
I think the fact that the top of the Globe is an elevated plane had something to do with it. I know I've read somewhere that the puller should never jump when pulling a Hero. I am lead to believe that breaking this map "Elevation Plane" will aggro all 8 Heroes. This would apply to the team members also.
[/ QUOTE ]
I think there's a lot more superstition than hard science surrounding the seemingly random manner in which the FP are aggroed. We've tried not breaking the ground plane, TPing the team to the stage location, keeping everyone out of line of sight for the entire time. It worked exactly once and we've never been able to duplicate that again. That's the primary reason we moved to the far back of the map, if more than one comes, there's a pretty good chance of some of them losing aggro and turning back. If they aggro in a staggered manner, the distance they have to run is so far that we can usually defeat or nearly defeat a Hero in the time it takes them to run from the statue to the back of the map.
We tried pulling from the same location we stage with the sleep method and using TP Foe. It worked once. After that Numina could not be pulled with TP Foe (she would just ignore it), and a second use of TP Foe would usually end up aggroing everything. Didn't work so good. That's when someone in the SG suggested moving everyone to the far back and using distance to help manage the aggro.
Psychosis Guide to Mastering Lord Recluse's Strike Force
Author: Guardian Gaz
Villain Group: Psychosis
Server: Guardian
[u]Introduction[u]
Obtaining the Master of Lord Recluse's Strike Force badge is perhaps the toughest challenge for a single team in City of Villains. For those who don't know what this means, it means completing the strike force without anyone dying and without the use of temporary powers (e.g. Shivans, Warburg nukes, temporary powers from missions, veteran rewards). It is our hope that this guide will help you acquire the fame, notoriety, and eternal admiration of your friends and family in completing this very rewarding strike force.
This guide assumes you are already familiar with Recluse's Strike Force as it is not intended to be a walkthrough. There are many detailed guides for how to complete this strike force already. If you are looking for a guide on how to complete this strike force and aren't particular about how it gets done this guide is not for you. In fact, we will be skipping the first three missions altogether. We will be focussing here instead on the final two missions, in particular the encounters with the Vindicators in the fourth mission and the Freedom Phalanx in the fifth.
[u]A Few Tips Before We Begin[u]
1) Be Careful!
Duh, right? It does not matter how good your team is, how good a player you think you are, how omnipotent your build seems, a lapse in judgement can get you killed. I've seen the most solidly built Stone Armor Brute be knocked out of his armor and killed because he wasn't paying attention. Likewise I've seen pets drag aggro unexpectedly into the team because someone did not dismiss their pet before accepting a teleport. All the little details matter when you are trying to get everyone through to the end without dying.
2) Dismiss Your Pets!
Before you accept that teleport or fly across the map, be sure to dismiss your pets. If your pets or minions do not get teleported with you, rest assured they are making a bee line for you and running through every spawn on the map to get there. Neither you nor your team will be terribly amused when that Longbow or Malta group suddenly rushes around the corner and drops a world of hurt on the Dominators and Corruptors bringing a quick close to your hard sought deathless strike force.
3) Communicate!
As the American poet GI Joe said, "Knowing is half the battle!" Make sure that everyone on the team knows what they should be doing and where they should be doing it. Make sure everyone knows the strategy. Take breaks between key points of each mission to explain what happens next and announce any changes to the understood strategy. If everyone knows what to do then there will be no confusion (hopefully) and everyone will feel better and be more confident. Don't be afraid to to give special instruction when needed or remind an over-zealous Corruptor not to be in melee range of that large group of Heroes.
4) Be Prepared!
Ultimately you are responsible for your own health, so bring whatever inspirations you need to help you stay alive in case things go awry. Even if everyone is doing what they should be doing the unexpected can still happen. Better to be prepared than to be sorry.
5) Be Careful!
This really can't be stressed enough.
[u]The Strategy[u]
Missions 1, 2, and 3
There is no great secret to the first three missions that has not been exhaustively described in other resources. Paragon Wiki (http://www.paragonwiki.com/) has a very good description of the strategy used here. Our strategy does not differ significantly and with practice these missions can be easily completed without dying by just about any team. There are a lot of places in the first two missions where an accidental and untimely demise may be found. Be aware of your surroundings and possible sources of unwanted aggro and be prepared to act appropriately (note: dying is not considered an appropriate action).
Mission 4
There are three noteworthy events in this mission: defeating the Vindicators, stealing the key and defeating the ambush, defeating Ms. Liberty. Without a doubt the first of these three events is the most difficult (and, depending on how the last mission goes, the most difficult encounter in the entire strike force). We currently employ three different strategies depending on our team composition. We'll describe them here in order of safest to least safe, but will mention that we most often use the second method.
Method 1: Sleep Strategy
This is by far the safest strategy and also requires the most specialized team. You will need three things: a Dominator with Mass Hypnosis, a Corruptor with Speed Boost, and a Brute with taunt. It is imperative during the execution of this strategy that the Dominator have Speed Boost at all times to keep Domination charged.
To begin, have the team stage at a point that is far enough away from the Vindicators to avoid accidentally waking them and also out of line of sight. The end of the hall near the ramp is a good location.
Next, without aggroing the Vindicators, have the Dominator put them to sleep using Mass Hypnosis. You did remember to give the Dominator Speed Boost, right? Good.
Once the Vindicators are asleep the brute should taunt the intended target, then attack with a single-target attack (no AoEs or cones). The brute should then lead the awakened Hero back to where the rest of the team is waiting. Please note that it is important for the brute to taunt the intended target before attacking. We have found that the first target upon waking will not be the Brute, but the Dominator, if they are awakened early (rather than allowing sleep to expire naturally). Save your team an early heart attack and make sure to taunt first.
Wash, rinse, and repeat until all the Vindicators are defeated. We generally use the following order: Malaise, Mynx, Luminary, Swan, Valkyrie.
Method 2: Buff and Rush
Pretty much what the name implies. All applicable buffs are applied to everyone on the team, then the Brutes rush together into the room with the Vindicators to secure their aggro. Less resilient members of the team stay at range (usually in the doorway or just outside) buffing the Brutes and attacking the Vindicators in the following order: Swan, Malaise, Mynx, Luminary, Valkyrie. Another popular order is: Malaise, Swan, Luminary, Mynx, Valkyrie. Regardless of the order you choose to defeat them, it is very important to communicate which Hero should be attacked at any given time. This will keep everyone focussed and make defeating them much faster and safer.
Method 3: Snipe and Pull
By far our least popular strategy, but sometimes used if the team is extraordinarily bereft of buffs and/or damage mitigation. On the way from the entrance to the Vindicators' room there is a small room with two offset archways, the team stages in this room with the hope of using the narrow door as a chokepoint. One member proceeds to where the Vindicators are waiting and snipes one of them and leads them back to the room where the team is waiting. Order doesn't matter much here as they almost always all are aggroed. One key point is to keep the Vindicators out of the little room except for the Hero that is the current target. Because it is such a small room, having all the heroes and the team inside at once creates a very volatile situation. There are a lot of things that can go wrong with this strategy, which is why we do not use it unless the other two strategies are not possible.
Once the Vindicators are defeated the rest of the mission resumes using conventional strategies.
Mission 5
The final mission is the ultimate showdown. The Freedom Phalanx versus the best the Rogue Isles has to offer, you and your team. There are many groups of Longbow scattered around the map, you may play with them if you wish, but you do not have to. For this mission we have worked out two different strategies that have proven themselves quite successful, though not infallible.
Method 1: Sleep Strategy
This is actually the same strategy used in Method 1 of Mission 4. We typically stage directly to the west of the Freedom Phalanx, at the base of the steps. There is a large wall here and sharp corners satisfactory for pulling the Heroes back. Why is the wall important if we are using the sleep method? If for some reason the sleep should break and the Freedom Phalanx wake up early, being out of line of sight will buy the team some time to retreat before the Heroes arrive and are able to attack directly.
The Dominator (Speed Boosted as before) carefully moves around to the north and casts Mass Hypnosis, using Citadel or Positron as an anchor.
Once the Freedom Phalanx are safely asleep, the Brute approaches, taunts the first target, then attacks with a single-target attack. There are two important points to mention here: the Brute should not taunt and pull while standing next to the Dominator. If the Hero being taunted leads off with an AoE attack, the Dominator will be right in range of it, and the Brute must remember to taunt before attacking.
We pull the Freedom Phalanx in the following order: Statesman, Manticore, Back Alley Brawler, Sister Psyche, Citadel, Positron, Synapse, Numina. This order is important for two reasons: firstly it ensures that the Dominator always has an anchor positioned right in the middle of the remaining Freedom Phalanx during the entire mission, secondly if Numina is awakened early and casts Healing Aura she will wake every Hero in range and also begin buffing them. The actual danger of this happening might be slim, but why take the chance?
Method 2: Snipe, Recall, and Pull
This strategy takes some coordination, a good deal of communication, and requires three things: someone with snipe, someone with recall friend (not the person with snipe), and a Brute. We stage in the parking lot directly north of City Hall. Yes, all the way back. There are a pair of walls connected by foot bridges, you'll be pulling around the corner of the east wall.
There are usually a couple Longbow groups between the staging area and City Hall, defeat them first to clear a path from City Hall to the staging area.
The person with snipe proceeds to the top of City Hall, usually the roof or hovering above it, where ever maximum snipe range places them. The Brute waits behind City Hall out of sight. If the target Hero loses aggro and starts heading back to the statue, the Brute is there to taunt or attack in order to keep aggro while they lead them back to where the team is waiting.
Once the sniper is ready the person with Recall Friend activates recall, the sniper fires the snipe then accepts the teleport. This pulls the sniper immediately out of harm's way and causes the sniped Hero to chase them. Quite frequently they will lose aggro as they approach the rear of City Hall, where the Brute is waiting to intercept and lead them the rest of the way back. This process is repeated until all the Freedom Phalanx except Statesman are defeated.
For this method we defeat the Heroes in opposite order of the Sleep Method: Numina, Synapse, Positron, Citadel, Sister Psyche, Back Alley Brawler, Manticore, Statesman.
The team then moves to the front of City Hall, buffs up, and attacks Statesman directly beneath the statue (because it is more dramatic).
When using this method, it is possible to single pull each of the Freedom Phalanx. However, it is also possible to get them in groups. Pulling Numina will sometimes bring Synapse, Synapse and Positron, or Synapse, Positron, and Citadel. Sister Psyche, Back Alley Brawler, and Manticore are similarly linked and sniping one may bring some or all of them. However, it is better to fight three or four Heroes at a time than all eight at once. If you do pull more than one Hero, it is helpful to have more than one Brute on the team so one of them can distract the other Heroes while the team focusses on defeating one Hero at a time.
[u]Conclusion[u]
This strategy has worked to great effect with a wide range of teams. The fewer buffs and debuffs you bring the higher the challenge will be. Likewise, bringing too little damage will also reward you with a higher challenge. We have found that a team with three Brutes (any will do) and five Corruptors (of mixed flavor) seems to be a sweet spot for us. However, we have successfully completed this challenge with mixed teams of Dominators, Stalkers, Masterminds, Corruptors, and Brutes. Sometimes our teams were unsurprisingly effective and sometimes teams that we thought had no chance were able to successfully complete this challenge.
We have attempted to run this strategy with unplanned teams in order to test the viability of this strategy under real world conditions. As real world as a we can be anyway. We hope this guide will be useful and helpful in allowing you to become a Master of Lord Recluse's Strike Force.
Author's Note: I'd like thank all the members of Psychosis who contributed methods and ideas to this strategy and those who helped with time, sweat, and tears to develop and refine it during the weeks it took us to finally complete the master run successfully.